Submissive To Assertive: Metamorphosis of Rani In Karnad’s Nagamandala

Beginning in the early nineteenth century, Indian English Drama has walked a gruelling path to the present, where it has received a breath of fresh air and life from emerging dramatists such as Asif Currimbhoy, Girish Karnad, Vijay Tendulkar, Mahesh Dattani, and others. Girish Karnad is a name that many people regard among this new generation of playwrights. He is a well-known playwright as well as a critically acclaimed film actor. Karnad began his writing career with Yayati and has since written a number of thought-provoking and symbolist plays steeped in myth and local culture. Nagamandala (1988) is a play that takes its inspiration from popular myth and oral stories centred on the King Cobra, 'Naga,' but raises issues that are as relevant today as they were in the past. It discusses the man-woman relationship, a woman's position and identity, psychology, and the impact of social and cultural modes on the feminine psyche. This paper is a modest attempt to mark the metamorphosis in Rani, a character in Karnad’s Nagamandala